In assembling a television set or monitor, it is necessary and convenient to connect a printed circuit board or other component to the neck of a cathode ray tube (“CRT”). This connection must be rigid and be maintained during the life of the tube. For purposes of servicing, sometimes the printed circuit board is removed from the tube, and accommodation should be made for removal of the circuit board from the CRT.
Usually, in the prior art, the printed circuit board was connected to the neck of the CRT by means of a metal ring which could be tightened with a self taping or similar screw. Such an arrangement has been found to be cumbersome and may result in physical and/or electrical damage to the tube or circuit board, particularly during tightening of the screw. Also, the number of parts necessary to accomplish such securement of the printed circuit board on the neck of the CRT by means of a screw on a ring sometime resulted in the screw becoming loose over time, causing misalignment of the printed circuit board, and, additionally, required some care in maintaining inventory and arranging the parts for assembly and in the assembly of the connecting device onto the tube. The diameter of the yoke of some cathode ray tubes varies, and this variance in size can also cause problems for the connection of a device around its yoke.
Typical prior art yoke or CRT clamp arrangements are shown in Bickford U.S. Pat. No. 2,840,740, Cha et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,010, and Japan 200030634, and these devices have been used and/or modified to accommodate a printed circuit board or component. Such devices typify the difficulties in the prior art discussed above. Additionally, particularly when the assembled CRT and printed circuit board had to be moved, there was always the danger of a weak connection, which could become weaker during completion of assembly of the television or monitor and during transport of the assembled tube and printed circuit board.